Comparison

Lux Draw vs Doodle

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Lux Draw

Create unique art with light-inspired tools and gritty textures. Draw from scratch or enhance photos with glow pens and special effects. Offers advanced features like HDR brushes and Apple Pencil support for a professional artistic experience.

Highlights
  • Live-calculated HDR brushes
  • Glow Pen, Hot Pen, Light Spheres
  • Gritty paper/canvas textures
  • Smear tool for flame art
  • Apple Pencil support
  • Multiple layers
  • Photo tracing mode (Pro)
Features
Read full description

Draw with light-inspired tools, for a unique art style! Create a drawing from scratch, or add effects to your photos. Let your creativity run wild! • LIVE-CALCULATED HDR BRUSHES • The app features live-calculated brushes and strokes, that together with HDR values make it feel like drawing with light! Drawing tools include Glow Pen, Hot Pen, Light Spheres, and more. Tip: Use the Smear tool on a photo or drawing to achieve immensely cool flame art (seriously, try it!). • GRITTY PAPER/CANVAS TEXTURES • Having a paper/canvas texture interacting in real-time with the drawing tools will give your artwork a satisfying, gritty look. You can remove or change the default-generated texture to something else. • UNIVERSAL PURCHASE • If you choose to buy the Pro upgrade, this one-time in-app purchase will unlock all Pro features in the app on all available platforms (iPad-iPhone-Mac)! • METAL • The engine is based on Metal, with 128-bit color and floating-point arithmetic. • SWIFT • The app was developed entirely using Swift (earlier versions used C++). • FINGERTIP = STROKE SIZE • CHANGE SIZE/FORCE/COLOR WHILE DRAWING • • APPLE PENCIL SUPPORT • FULL SCREEN DRAWING • SEAMLESS PATTERN EDITING MODE • • DARK MODE • LANDSCAPE • PORTRAIT • WIDE COLOR • • MULTIPLE LAYERS • PHOTO TRACING MODE (Pro feature) •

About

Doodle

Unleash your creativity with a simple yet powerful drawing application. Sketch, paint, and color on a blank canvas, perfect for quick ideas or detailed artwork. Save your creations with an optional subscription for enhanced features.

Highlights
  • Blank canvas for drawing
  • Variety of drawing tools and colors
  • Undo functionality
  • Image sharing
  • Apple Pencil support
  • Cross-device compatibility
  • Optional Pro subscription for advanced features
Features
Read full description

A little color. A whole new world. Doodle is a drawing app for everyday imagination. Pick a tool, choose a color, and make a mark. A blank canvas can become a small world, a useful idea, or a few minutes of play. MAKE SOMETHING YOURS Draw a colorful scene. Sketch a chart to explain a thought. Draw a tic-tac-toe board and take turns making marks. Map a request and its reply. Practice a letter until it feels like your own. These are things you can draw, with room for your own ideas in between. KEEP IT SIMPLE Choose drawing tools and colors, undo a mark, and share an image of your work. On compatible iPad models, draw with touch or Apple Pencil. No account is required to start drawing. A CANVAS FOR YOUR DEVICE Draw on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Vision Pro. Each brings its own controls to the same simple idea: a place to draw. On Apple Vision Pro, Doodle is a two-dimensional canvas in an app window. A LITTLE MORE WITH DOODLE PRO An optional Doodle Pro subscription lets you save and reopen editable drawings, ask for confirmation before clearing, hide the tool picker, and choose your preferred light or dark appearance. App icon choices are also available on supported devices. Drawing and image sharing do not require a Pro subscription. Pro is available as a monthly or yearly auto-renewing subscription. The price and any eligible offer are shown before you subscribe. Subscriptions renew automatically unless you cancel. Manage or cancel your subscription in your App Store account settings. One mark is a good place to start. Privacy Policy: https://doodle.app/privacy Terms of Use: https://doodle.app/terms

Screenshots

Lux Draw4 screens
Doodle4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Doodle at 46K against Lux Draw's 939. Lux Draw's advantage is rating (4.7 vs 4.5) and review sentiment (82% vs 67%). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Lux Draw sells 6 one-off in-app purchases and Doodle sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Lux Draw holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Doodle has 46K ratings behind it against 939, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 82% of Lux Draw's written reviews are positive against 67% of Doodle's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Lux Draw versus Doodle: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLux DrawDoodle
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (939 ratings) — better4.5 (46K ratings)
Positive reviews81.5% of reviews — better67.2% of reviews
Number of ratings93946K — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, MaciPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro
Requires iOS12.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size24 MB155 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNorbyteJoe Blau

Customer experience

Lux Draw

All ratings939 ratings
Positive92.2%
Neutral4.7%
Negative3.1%
Written reviews92 reviews
Positive81.5%
Neutral10.9%
Negative7.6%

Doodle

All ratings46,309 ratings
Positive85.9%
Neutral7.0%
Negative7.1%
Written reviews409 reviews
Positive67.2%
Neutral13.2%
Negative19.6%

User reviews

Lux Draw

From 939 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Excellent entertainment value
  • 👍 Creative drawing tools
  • 👍 No ads, totally free
  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 👍 Variety of brushes and colors

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional glitches and freezing issues
  • 🐛 Compatibility issues with certain devices/platforms
  • 🔧 Limited functionality compared to other drawing apps
  • 🔧 Lack of advanced features like fill tool, shapes, and text
  • 🔧 Difficulty using with mouse/trackpad on laptops

Doodle

From 46K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 👍 No ads
  • 👍 Allows creativity
  • 👍 Good for quick sketches
  • 👍 Works with Apple Pencil

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Accidental deletion of drawings
  • 🐛 Disappearing toolbar
  • 🐛 Lack of save/export options
  • 🐛 Crashes and loss of progress
  • 🐛 Limited drawing tools

Bugs and requests

Lux Draw

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Freezing and unresponsiveness when switching tools
  • Leaving unwanted color dots when erasing
  • Compatibility issues with certain devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add fill tool, shapes, and text capabilities
  • Improve compatibility with tablets and styluses
  • Provide more customization options for brushes and colors
  • Implement undo/redo functionality
  • Add ability to export/share drawings easily

Doodle

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Drawings disappear after app closes
  • Toolbar disappears during screen recording
  • Inability to zoom in/out properly

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add undo/redo functionality
  • Implement auto-save feature
  • Provide more drawing tools and customization options
  • Allow changing background color
  • Add ability to import/export drawings

In-app purchases

6 purchases

Lux Draw

One-time6
  • Tip Jar: Smallest Tip$1.00
  • Tip Jar: Small Tip$2.00
  • Pro Upgrade$5.00
Show 3 more
  • Tip Jar: Medium Tip$5.00
  • Tip Jar: Big Tip$10.00
  • Tip Jar: Biggest Tip$25.00
2 purchases

Doodle

Subscriptions2
  • Doodle Pro: Monthly7 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Doodle Pro: Yearly$19.991 Year

Questions

Is Lux Draw free?
Lux Draw is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Doodle free?
Doodle is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Lux Draw or Doodle?
Lux Draw is rated higher. Lux Draw averages 4.7 out of 5 from 939 ratings, while Doodle averages 4.5 from 46K ratings.
Do Lux Draw or Doodle have ads?
Neither Lux Draw nor Doodle shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Lux Draw or Doodle?
Lux Draw ships an update every 2 months, and Doodle every 2 months. Most recently, Lux Draw was updated on November 6, 2026 and Doodle on November 8, 2026.

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